


64 Days to the End of the World

by akisazame



Category: Persona 3
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-08-09
Updated: 2010-08-09
Packaged: 2018-02-03 04:11:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1730681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/akisazame/pseuds/akisazame
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aigis and Ryoji meet again on the Moonlight Bridge.</p>
            </blockquote>





	64 Days to the End of the World

The deep green of the Dark Hour moon reflected on the surface of the water beneath the Moonlight Bridge, shimmering and crackling in ways that very few people would ever see. Aigis stared down at it, eyes unblinking, flexing her fingers unconsciously.

"Imagine meeting you here," said a soft voice from behind her. She whirled around, automatically assuming a fighting stance, and the tension in her mechanical joints didn't ease when she visually identified her unexpected company.

Her eyes narrowed dangerously, but he simply laughed, yellow scarf fluttering despite the deadness of the air. "What business do you have with me, Appriser?" She spat out the title like a curse, and he winced somewhat at her tone. "Is this an attempt to test my restraint functions?"

Ryoji laughed again, amusement spreading across his face in ways that Aigis simply could not comprehend. Smiling like that, after realizing what he was and what his very existence signified, was utterly illogical. "No, I'm certain that the Kirijo Group programmed you impeccably. In fact, it was that impeccable programming that helped me find you here tonight."

A curious statement. "What do you mean by that?"

"What I mean, Ai-chan, is that you're predicable." Without a moment's hesitation, he closed the gap between them; Aigis was poised and ready to spring, but Ryoji breezed past her and leaned against the bridge's railing, staring down at the water as the robot girl had been doing before. She turned around slowly, watching the boy's back as he gazed at the moon's reflection, finally relaxing when she realized she could not sense any hostility from him.

Even so, it was easy enough to see through his sly tricks. "You have avoided my question, Appriser."

He wasn't looking at her, but she could see the very corners of his mouth turn down in displeasure. "There really isn't any need to call me that, Aigis," he said, voice soft and almost vulnerable.

"Tell me what you want."

There was a moment of silence, then a gentle laughter. But it was different this time, Aigis observed; there was no joy in it. _Good,_ she caught herself thinking. She regretted that thought, however, when he turned around to face her, a profound sadness in his eyes. "I trust you know what I spoke to SEES about? What I asked him to do?"

She had been in the lab at the time, being repaired after the incident on the Moonlight Bridge, but she had heard about it all from Mitsuru. "You want him to kill you."

Ryoji glanced away, a feeble attempt to hide the discomfort that was evident on his face. He blinked several times, then looked up to meet the robot girl's blue eyes. "He won't do it. You know that as well as I."

As much as Aigis hated to admit it, Ryoji was probably right. She would rather avoid openly agreeing with him, of course. "I fail to comprehend your train of thought, Appri--"

"Would you _please_ stop calling me that?" Ryoji interrupted, a pained note in his voice. He turned back towards the water, scarf whipping behind him. Aigis felt a twinge of something -- regret? -- but it was fleeting, and she chalked it up to her new wiring. When Ryoji spoke again, it was quiet and measured. "I'm perfectly aware of what I am. I don't need anyone to remind me, least of all you."

Aigis opened her mouth, then closed it. She felt that weird twinge again, and it was incredibly uncomfortable; perhaps she should go back to the lab for some additional tweaks, as there was obviously something wrong. "I'm sorry," she heard herself saying, barely above a whisper.

There was a curious look in Ryoji's eyes when he looked back at her over his shoulder, somewhere between surprise and bemusement. None of that showed in his voice, however; it was as if the exchange had never taken place. Aigis almost felt grateful, until she heard the words he said instead. "Ai-chan. I want you to do it."

Her eyes widened, focusing and refocusing. She scanned his face several times over, played back his voice in her mind to analyze it, but everything pointed to Ryoji being completely serious. "That's illogical, App- Ryoji. You've already asked him to do it. So he should--"

"I told you, he won't do it," Ryoji shot back, cutting her off again. "And can you really blame him? After all that I did, trying to ingratiate myself with them, becoming Junpei-kun's friend, _his_ friend..." His voice cracked, just slightly, and his remorse was practically tangible in the night air. "And even if I hadn't done all that," he began again, slow and measured, "could you really kill a part of yourself?"

Just a few months ago, the answer to that would have come naturally to Aigis. Logically, if a part of oneself was malfunctioning or otherwise impairing the whole, like a faulty wire or a chipped circuit board, it should be removed and replaced. But that was how robots worked, not humans, and she understood that now. For humans, it wasn't so simple as installing a new processor bought from the local electronics shop. It was infinitely more complicated.

 _But the Appriser isn't human,_ she quickly reminded herself. Then another voice chimed in: _And neither are you._

He was staring at her, waiting for her response, a solemn and resigned look in his eyes, and all at once she decided she couldn't stand it. She had liked it better when he wasn't looking at her. Even more than that, she'd liked it better when she could look at people's expressions and not understand their feelings. Ryoji was just as responsible for that as everyone else. Even so, she couldn't find it in herself to be angry. She closed her eyes for a moment, but he was still there when she opened them again, that same expression sizing her up, waiting for her response.

"Whether or not I could kill a part of myself is irrelevant," she began, slowly, watching his face carefully. "In addition, my feelings on the matter of killing you are also irrelevant. You are aware of my feelings about you, and that is why you came here tonight."

There was a hint of a smile, reminiscent of the way Ryoji used to be, back before the world was quite so complicated. "You got me there."

"What is relevant, Appriser," she went on, speeding through the title, seeing him flinch but not caring particularly, "is that it is against my protocol to harm any part of him. And even if it were not against my protocol..." A pause, letting the whirring circuits of her brain and her heart come back in pace with one another. "It is not my desire."

He raised an eyebrow. "Desire?"

"I do not desire to hurt him, or go against his wishes. Your fate remains in his hands." She didn't understand it, but she felt the corners of her mouth turning up into a smile. "It is quite fortunate for you, Ryoji."

And now he was laughing again. "I suppose it depends on what you consider fortunate, Ai-chan." With a flash of yellow, he turned and started walking away, silhouetted against the sickly green sky. He was a few meters away when he stopped, speaking again without turning around. "I didn't know that the Kirijo Group designed their robots to be so lovely when they smile."

There was a shift and a lurch as the Dark Hour ended, the sky fading to its normal shades of bluish-black, and in the instant that the city flashed back to life, Ryoji disappeared from Aigis's vision. She expected to feel relieved, but for some reason that wasn't the case.

"Predictable," she muttered, echoing Ryoji's earlier words. She almost had to laugh; to herself as of late, she'd been anything but.  



End file.
